Young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 sometimes aren’t sure what the next step in life is after graduation from high school. The Americorp program is a choice that fills the void while providing training and service learning to it’s members while also providing financial incentive. Team member Member Emily Sugarman, talks about how she got involved with Americorp while deciding what to do before entering college.Click here to listen to Emily Sugarman

In addition to stipends and room and board, Americorp also offers college payment support of up to 5500 dollars for tuition or pay down loans if already enrolled in school. Participants must complete their service in order to eligible for the college money.

Right now a team of Americorp members are in Nevada County for several weeks. Team Member Kaitlin Zipcoff helping the Bear Yuba Land Trust do some trail cleanup and other projects.Click here to listen to Kaitlin Zipcoff

Americorp Team members come from all over the United States. For teams deployed on the West Coast, several weeks of training takes place in Sacramento and then teams are sent out on three separate missions to provide a variety of services. Prior to coming to Nevada County, Emily and Kaitlin’s team did a planting project in Corvalis, Oregon and also did eduction work at schools in East LA.

The Service Learning component of AmeriCorp has changed both Emily and Kaitlin’s perspective on serving others and plan to continue doing so even after completion of the program.Click here to listen to Kaitlin and Emily